Holder for silverware



Sept. 29, 1925. 1,555,586

w. A. KINSMAN ET AL HOLDER FOR SILVERWARE Filed 001:. 2, 1922 In vent Ora Patented Sept. 29, 1925.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

WILLIAM A. KINSMAN AND HAROLD E. NOCK, OF NEWBURYPORT, MASSACHUSETTS,

ASSIGNORS TO TOWLE MANUFACTURING COMPANY, OF NEWBURYPORT, MASSA- CHUSETTS, A CORPORATION OF MASSACHUSETTS.

HOLDER non SILVERWARE.

Application filed October 2, 1922. Serial No. 591,728.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, WILLIAM A. Kins- MAN and HAROLD E. NOCK, citizens of the United States, residing at l\ewburyport, in the county of Essex, State of Massachusetts, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Holders for Silverware; and we do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

This invention relates to portable holders for fiat silverware and more particularly to such holders designed to contain the requisite number of pieces to set the table for a course dinner for a number of persons, for example, four, siX or eight.

The object of the invention is to provide a silverware holder of the character described which will receive the knives, forks, spoons or other service pieces in a compact relation so that the entire service can readily be carried to and from the table, and also in such relation as to provide for ready and expeditious removal and replacement in setting and clearing the table.

A further object of the invention is to provide a silverware holder adapted to a unitary display of a combination of tableware pieces, of the character already re ferred to, such that each different piece is so supported and arranged as to fully and completely display its features of ornament, con figuration, or other novelty of design.

To the accomplishment of these objects and such others as may hereinafter appear, as will readily be understood by those skilled in the art, the invention comprises the combination and arrangement of features and parts hereinafter described and then particularly pointed out in the appended claims.

The preferred form of the invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawing, in which r Fig. 1 is a perspective view of the holder, the shading indicating a covering of velvet or similar material;

Fig. 2 is a longitudinal section on the line 2-2 of Fig. 2, but with the velvet removed;

Fig. 3 is a view, in elevation, of one of the knife rests;

Fig. 4 is a perspective view of one of the QOlCGfilBd supports for the knife handles; an e Fig. 5 is a broken section showing the manner of attaching the lifting handles.

In the embodiment of the invention illus-.

trated in the drawing the holder comprises a rectangular base-board 10, which may be of heavy cardboard or any other material light in weight, to which the supports 11, 12 and 13 for the silverware are secured. The support 11 for holding the forks, spoons and butter spreaders comprises an elongated wood block, transversely grooved at let by producing a series of vertical, transverse slots in the upper surface of the block, as shown in Fig. 2, and is secured directl to the upper face of the base-board 10 by being glued thereto in a longitudinal location thereon somewhat removed from the edge of the board. Before securing the re maining supports 12 and 13 in place, the board 10 and attached support 11 are covered with some soft textile'material 15,

such as velvet. The velvet is forced down into each of the grooves 14 and attached smoothly to the bottoms and sides thereof and to the intervening top surfaces 16 between the grooves by glue or other convenient securing agent. This provides the hard walls of the article receiving slots, each of which it will be observed presents an opening of definite and unalterable width, with a cushion which prevents marring of the pieces when repeatedly placed in and removed from the slots in the use of the holder as hereinafter described. From each side of the support 11 the velvet is brought forward and rearward, the fullness being gathered and folded in an artistic manner, and the margins being turned under the edge of the baseboard. The margins of the velvet at the ends of the base-board are treated in the same manner. The covering may conveniently be secured to the baseboard by gluing the infolded margins to the underside thereof. The rough edges thus produced are covered by a wear sheet 17 (Fig. 5) of any suitable character, such as linen stiffened and strengthened by sizing.

Near the edge of the base-board furthest removed from the support 11, and on top of the velvet covering 15, are located the other two supports l2and 13, shown in detail by Fig. 3. These two supports are for holding the blades of the knives, and accordingly are placed in spaced relation at each side of the center of the base-board. Each knife support comprises a wood block provided with transverse'slots 18 the entire surface thus formed being smoothly covered by astripi of velvet 19, matching the velvet 15 in tone, of sufficient length to cover the ends ofthe block and extend slightly under the bottom thereof. The sides of, the.block, where the wood is left exposed to view, is stained in a tone to match the velvet coverings 15 and 19. It will be observed that the slots 18 are cut oblique to the upper surface of the block and. when the block is in position on the holder these slots slope away from the front edge thereof. The purpose and advantage of this construction will presently be ex; plained. Each knife supporting block is rigidly secured to the board in a suitable manner as by screws (not shown) the heads of/the screws being concealed by the wear sheet 17. The blocks are so spaced that a knife blade will lie in the aligned slots of both blocks and the slots are of a width (somewhat exaggerated in the drawing) to receive the blades of. two knives if desired, it

being understood that the handles extend" in opposite directions so that the knives are displayed singly.

Before the velvet cover is marginally secured, the upper surface of the board 10 is fittedwithtwoblocks 20. (Fig. 4:), which may be of. wood and glued in position, as shown by dotted lines in Fig. 1, near each end of the holder and in line with the knife blade supports. These blocks serve as rests for the knife handles and are so proportioned that the knives are maintained in a horizontalv planef Vith this construction the knife handle rests 20 are wholly concealed by the velvet covering and this arrangement cooperates with the knife blade supports in an effective manner, as will be set forth hereinafter.

Since an important feature of the holder is its portability it is desirable that means be provided. for handling the holder in a convenient manner. To this end a handle :21 of usual form, preferably metal, is secured at. each end of the holder. The baseboard is of such a character that a lateral The preferred constructiorifas shown by Fig. 5, comprises a metallic strip 22 interposed between the board 10 and the infolded margins of the velvet 15 andprovided with holes through which the handle rivets 23 are passed. The

rivets 23 may conveniently be in the form of l\IcGill.fastenings.

The manner in which the silverware is supported by the holder is as follows: The forks, spoons, butter spreaders and. like pieces rest with the shanks of their handles set loosely in the grooves 14, which are deep enough to each receive a plurality of nested pieces, the tines, bowls and blades resting on the velvet below the support 11. An important feature resides in the construction of the support 10 which provides not only for a complete separation of each nest of'pieces, but also for the most attractive arrangement for display purposes. As shown best by Fig. 2 the grooves 14 are unevenly spaced, the narrower, spacing preferably being at the ends. In the ilhlstrated form the intervening top surfaces 16 are so proportioned that the surface of greatest width. is central "oflthe support. and the widths decrease proportionally from the center outward. placing'the larger spoons and forks in the grooves between the wider top spaces 16, and the smaller pieces in the remaining grooves at either side, not only has each piece ample room to rest on the holder without. contact with the pieces at either side, but in addition the great advantage of increased capacity for the holder is obtained. This means that a greater variety of pieces for the dinner service can be carried by a holder of convenient size, and further that these pieces can be given the best possible arrangement for an attractive display by jewelersbecause ofthe apparent even spacing while maintaining a graded sequence in which the pieces decrease in size from the center outward.

In like manner the oblique slots 18 in the knife supports 12 and 13 enable the knives to lie at an angle to the observer, in position to present and fully display the complete handle ornamentation to the eye of the observer. This is aided by the longitudinal arrangement of'the knives on the holder, but is further and materially aided by the fact that the handle rests 20 are located wholly beiowthe handles and do not in any way whatsoever cover or hide the ornamental features of the handles. At the same time the provision of. two separated rests supports the knives in a manner to make removal.andreplacement an easy and simple matter.

It will be observed that the block 11, being made in one solid piece, acts as an efficient stiffener for the holder in a longitudinaldirection. In like manner the metallic reinforcements 22 for the handles supplement'the handles as efiicient stiffeners laterally of the holder. The stiffening function of these parts enables the use of a much cheaper baseboard 10 than otherwise would be possible. i

In using the holder in the home it is readily liftedby its handles from the buffet drawer by the maid. who can then most expeditiously set the dinner table by carrying it about the table on her arm removing the while the pieces for each person. The

time and number of steps saved will be apparent to all housekeepers. The reverse operation takes place when the meal. is over, the maid conveniently having the holder beside her when cleaning the silver. Chafing and rough usage of the silver by handling in bulk is thus entirely prevented. The formation of article receiving slots, presenting openings of a predetermined, constant width specially designed to receive the shanks of the handles of the spoons, forks and the like and the blades of the knives, facilitates the task of loading and unloading the holder because it permits the removal of any desired single piece from any nest of pieces, or its replacement, with one hand only. Were the supports designed in a manner to prevent free removal and replacement of the pieces of silverware the important and extremely useful function of the holder, just described, and its utility as a unit display piece in the jewelers would be greatly impaired. In using the holder at the jewelers for display purposes, it may advanta cously be received in an appropriate frame to set off and enhance the beauty of the display of silver.

Those skilled in the art will recognize from the foregoing description that the particular arrangement or location on the baseboard of the silverware-supporting means is not of paramount importance, since the illutrated arrangement might require variation to suit the display of a particular pattern or to aid in a more convenient handling of the pieces of flatware supported thereby, and that all such variations, while still employing supporting means having the charac teristic features described, fall within the scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims.

The nature and scope of the present invention having been indicated, and the preferred embodiment thereof having been specifically described, what is claimed as new, is

1. A holder for flat silverware comprising a base-board of light material to promote portability, rigid supporting means for the silverware arranged and secured in such position on said board as to facilitate a unitary display of knives and the requisite forks and spoons for a number of persons, said supporting means for the knives comprising a block having slots in its upper surface into which the knife blades are set, said slots being cut oblique to said upper surface and to the surface of the base-board to hold the knives and their handles in a tilted relation to the baseboard, and a handle rest for said knives located wholly below said handles to permit an unobstructed view of the ornamental.

features thereof.

2. A holder for flat silverware comprising a base-board covered with soft material, a block secured to the base-board having a plurality of narrow slots, above the plane of said covering material, constructed and arranged to receive the blades of a plurality of knives and hold the knives on edge, and a second block secured to the base-board beneath said covering material and positioned relatively to the first block to support the handles of the knives.

3. A holder for a plurality of pieces of flat silverware comprising a base-board; a covering of soft material for said baseboard; supporting means for the silver knives comprising a pair of blocks located at opposite margins of the base-board beneath said covering material, and other supporting means intermediate said two covered blocks having a series of parallel slots, above the plane of said covering material into which the knife blades may be set; and further supportmg means, on the base-board also having slots for receiving spoons, forks and the like in nested relation.

4. A holder for a plurality of pieces of flat silverware comprising a base-board covered with soft material and provided with a pair of handles to promote portability, with supporting means for spoons, forks and the like constructed and arranged to receive and sustain nests of each such piece in position above said covering material, and with supporting means for sustaining knives above said covering material comprising a slotted member for receiving the knife blades and a member with a smooth upper surface, located beneath said covering material, on which the knife handles rest.

WILLIAM A. KINSMAN. HAROLD E. NOCK. 

